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Partners in Recovery: information session video, part 5 - questions and answers, and conclusion

Questions and answers about Partners in Recovery (PIR), and conclusion of an information session.

Video - part 5 of information session
Transcript - part 5 of information session

Transcript

Carla Cranny: So if you have a question about the ITA process, please ask your question. Top of page

Gillian Mintel: Gillian Mintel from South Eastern Sydney Medicare Local. You’ve stated there are about 60,000 in this target group, and yet there’s funding for 24,000. What do you think or expect will be happening with the others who are not in PIR.

Alison Ritter: The whole point about this is building a better treatment service system for 60,000 people. So whilst only 24,000 individuals will receive specific support under the PIR, the whole initiative is designed to make the system better so that, using another drug and alcohol example, the drug and alcohol worker who’s got the action plan for client ‘A’ happens to bump into the mental health worker while they’re discussing that action plan and says, 'Oh by the way you know Joe, that guy that is really struggling, he’s actually been in three times this week but we think that he needs some more sorts of care.' And so what’s been facilitated here is the relationship between clinicians, practitioners, support workers, across the system.

Paul Kelly: Paul Kelly from Coffs Harbour Employment and Support Services. Consortium applications would be favourably reviewed. I’m just concerned whether, depending how this is structured or how I’m interpreting it, whether that may work against the objectives of Partners in Recovery. I just sort of have a perception that any consortiums may lead to a committee approach or a taskforce approach to governance and management.

Alison Ritter: It sounds like you might be making an assumption about what consortia means. It doesn’t necessarily mean governance by committee and consensus with 25 service providers. A consortium could be configured with a lead agency and quite a different governance model. So I don’t think you need to assume that.

Sue Campion: In fact I can just add to that that it’s actually essential that the consortium does have a lead. We’re very clear about that because we have to enter into a funding agreement with one organisation and that organisation will have responsibility for all of the requirements under the funding agreement.

Craig Parsons: Hi, Craig Parsons from Neami. Just a question about consortia - do you have an idea of what the consortia may look like? An indicative kind of how big, how small?

Sue Campion: It’s very much about what’s in the region, what are the needs of the group in the region and who might therefore be the most logical partners in the model.Top of page

Craig Parsons: And the lead agency’s expected to be an NGO. Does that go for all consortia partners? Are they all non-government?

Sue Campion: No, no, so the lead agency needs to be an NGO. So that’s the one that we will have the funding agreement with. But no we do envisage as I mentioned before that there’ll be Commonwealth and state funded services, the Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program, providers will be part of the model.

Craig Parsons: And just a question about will there be provision for sub-contracting?

Carmen Hinkley: Yes, we would expect there would be, through consortia arrangements the PIR lead might sub-contract with other providers or partners within that region.

Renee Williams: Hi my name’s Renee Williams, I’m from the Eastern Sydney Medicare Local. My question is about the evaluation and I’m wondering what your notion of the evaluation might look like, what that would feel like and shape into, whether it’s the client’s journey or whether its stats and so forth?

Alison Ritter: The evaluation tendering process is active at the moment so obviously details of that can’t be released. However, it is a comprehensive evaluation that includes both qualitative and quantitative components so, yes client journeys, yes stats, all of those kinds of different multiple data sources need to come together to ultimately achieve the objectives of the evaluation, which is to make a determination about the effectiveness of this program, one in relation to individual client outcomes, and two in relation to the treatment service system. So there’s both a systems level evaluation and an individual client level evaluation.

Carla Cranny: Okay, so first and foremost please utilise the website up there in the very top of the slide, Department of Health and Ageing, mental health

Slide: For more information

• Department of Health and Ageing, mental health website
• Grant program guidelines
• Information papers (including case studies)
• Fact sheets
• Question and answer booklet
• Invitation to apply
• Other information (as it becomes available)Top of page

Carla Cranny: This is your entry point to the Partners in Recovery initiative. All the information that is going to assist you to put in an ITA or work with local partners to do so will come up on that website. The guidelines and other things are there already.

The information sheets and more are in development on particular aspects of service that as exemplars. A question and answer bulletin or booklet is also going to be developed and will appear shortly, reflecting some of the questions that have been asked in these information sessions and others that are received.

The dates and details of the invitation to apply will also appear.

Thank you.

Text: For more information go to the Department of Health and Ageing, mental health website

Australian Government, Department of Health and Ageing